810 Vermont Ave NW Washington DC 20420 Center for Women Veterans (00W) U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs In Reply Refer To: JAN "2 6 2018 Allison Jaslow Iraq War Veteran Executive Director Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America 777 North Capitol St NE Washington, DC 20002 Dear Ms. Jaslow, Thank you for reaching out to share the results of member survey with their opinions on VA care and services, as well as your opinion on the mission statement. These historic words, which represent the heart of our noble mission, are drawn from Lincoln?s Second Inaugural address: ?To care for him who shall have born the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.? Recognizing that they can seem exclusionary to some women Veterans, for many years along with other senior VA leaders have honored the population we serve today by using a modernized version: ?To care for those who ?shall have borne the battle? and their families and survivors.? This symbolic update, which we are continuing to gradually incorporate alongside the original in digital and print materials as well as spoken remarks, is an important acknowledgment of today?s Veteran population, in which women are one of the fastest- growing populations. VHA now provides health care to nearly 500,000 women Veterans at 170 medical centers and 1,063 outpatient clinics nationwide. We hope you will help raise awareness among IAVA members that VHA out-performs all other sectors of care in providing gender-specific care for women Veterans, with a Cervical Cancer Screening Rate of 88% (compared to 77% in 74-76% in the private sector, and 60% for Medicaid); when it comes to Breast Cancer Screening Rate, rate is 86% (compared to 75% in 69-74% in the private sector, 69% for Medicare, and 51% for Medicaid). AII VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) have at least one women?s health primary care provider since VA has trained over 3,000 providers in women?s health and continues to train hundreds more annually. VA provides prenatal and preconception care, maternity care services, and 7 days of newborn care for women Veterans, all managed by dedicated Maternity Care Coordinators. Ms. Jaslow Page 2 Focused efforts in VA on women Veterans mental health saves lives: the risk of suicide among women Veterans who use VA has actually decreased since 2001, and those not using VA has a much higher suicide rate than those who are. To continually improve our ability to provide high-quality evidence-based, culturally competent mental health care to women, VA held a National Women?s Mental health Mini-Residency at which approximately 200 participants from across the country were trained on gender-specific aspects of and medications, trauma, integrating peer counselors, and more. And while women are only 9.5% of Veterans, a full 25% of Vet Center staff members are women Veterans who served in a war zone. VA provides all care related to military sexual trauma (MST) free of charge; all Veterans are screened and each VAMC has an MST Coordinator. VBA benefits can be a vital part of Veterans? economic stability, and outreach efforts to Women Veterans have worked: they access disability compensation at rates equal to men, and utilize other benefits at equal or higher rates. Over 26,000 women have accessed their Post 9/11 GI Bill education benefits so far, and women Veterans graduate at higher rates than all other groups. In FY15, nearly 66,000 women Veterans (10% of Veterans served) were guaranteed home loans totaling $16 billion. Women Veterans have higher median incomes and education levels and lower levels of poverty than women who have never served. Targeted training and other efforts have also eliminated an identified 20 point gap between the grant rates of disability claims for PTSD related to MST versus other causes between FY11 and FY17. All women Veterans should know about their eligibility for VA benefits and services, and be treated with dignity and respect when they come. We recognize that there are ongoing improvements needed within VA, are working diligently to identify challenges and opportunities facing women Veterans and disseminate best practices in addressing them. With community partnerships and focused effort, VA can continue to improve our ability to reach and care for the women who have served our great nation. We appreciate your ongoing advocacy on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, and look fonNard to continuing to work closely with you on our Vital mission of serving our nation?s Veterans. Sincerely, Kayla M. Williams, Director Center for Women Veterans